At least 50% of the awesomeness of this Saturday’s bout pitting Vic Darchinyan against Jorge Arce has been the pre-fight trash talk. And while it’s not that Arce hasn’t had plenty interesting to say — “When I am cut, I am content. My blood pleases me” — Darchinyan has spit out so many nasty things toward Arce that it’s been a rather one-sided affair. The above video is but one example. He’s insulted Arce’s trademark lollipop; he’s had about a billion quips involving Arce’s name, some obvious and some not (“Chicken a la Arce”); and he’s threatened to knock out members of Arce’s management team. All while saying Arce has “a big mouth.” And we still have a little less than a week to go.
So before we hit the official preview later in the week for this junior bantamweight (115 lbs.) showdown, I figured we’d hit the high points of the Darchinyan smack, which is too voluminous to compile in toto without the aid of an encyclopedia manufacturer.
One note — several of Darchinyan’s quotes come via news release, and there’s a strong chance Vic got a little, shall we say, assistance massaging the language of his attack. Most likely from Gary Shaw Productions PR man Fred Sternburg, a punsmith if there ever was one. Whatever. It’s all entertaining, and Vic’s name is on all of it. Therefore, here we go: in no particular order, the best of Darchinyan verbal assaults over the last couple months.
Concise: “I am going to demolish him, destroy him and knock him out. He is going to remember me all his life.” (news conference transcript)
Extracurricular: “I am upset with Beltran – the manager of Arce… He should keep his mouth shut and let Arce and myself do the talking. After I knockout Arce I will go to his corner and thank him for fighting me but then I might knock out Fernando Beltran.” (FightNews)
When Arce missed a mandatory weigh-in, Darchinyan dropped a reference to a serial weigh-in offender: “Do you know the weigh to San Jorge? Maybe he should switch to sugar-free lollipops to facilitate his weight loss? I just hope Jose Luis Castillo isn’t his nutritionist!” (news release)
If Arce is from Mexico, then there’s an opportunity for Vic to raise comparisons… and Toy Story references?: “I can’t get enough of Mexican fighters. They bounce real good off the canvas when I hit them. Let’s see, I’ve stopped Cristian Mijares, Victor Burgos and Luis Maldonado over the past two years. Unlike Jorge Arce, those three fighters were very tough hombres. Defeating Arce won’t take much training. It won’t even be a fight for me — more like pest control. I’m going to swat that Spanish Fly. How do you take a guy like Arce seriously? He sucks on lollipops and wears a cowboy hat from a toy store. He looks like ‘Woody’ from the movie ‘Toy Story.’ I can picture him running around his house on a broom pretending he’s riding a horse. He’s a regular Schlepalong Cassidy. When I finally meet him at the press conference do I say ‘Hola Jorge’ or ‘Howdy, Doody?'” (news release)
“The Raging Bull” throws some more Mexican-oriented quips in there: “If Arce thinks he has a snowball’s chance in hell of beating me than he’s a bigger sucker than those lollipops he chews on. Arce shouldn’t be worrying about me running for the hills. He should be worrying about me running him out of boxing! The last real ring test he had was against Cristian Mijares in 2007 and we all know how that ended. It was a murderous unanimous decision victory for Mijares, scored 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111. And everyone saw what I did to Mijares on November 1. Arce is going to be my human piñata. It will be like a Chihuahua going against a bull…a raging bull!” (news release)
A lengthy screed following welterweight (147 lbs.) Shane Mosley’s defeat of Antonio Margarito: “If Arce watched the fight, then he knows his future, which will come to pass when we meet on February 7. If I were Arce’s team, I’d MapQuest the quickest routes from the Honda Center to John Wayne Airport so he can get out of town fast. Unlike Mosley I am not waiting until the ninth round for the knockout. I am going to stop Farce quickly so he can take his black eyes on the red-eye out that same night. Whether Mexico allows him back in, well that is another issue. I was looking forward to facing him last Saturday at our press conference in Los Angeles, but he did not show. As my promoter Gary Shaw said, they decided to serve ‘Chicken a la Arce’ two weeks early. What a shock. Mexicans are great fighters. Arce is a disgrace to all of them. He is a clown. He should change his ring name from ‘Travieso’ to ‘Travesty’ because that’s what he is. I promise that I will demolish him just like I demolished Mijares. I will let him be a coward for the first two rounds where he can run around the ring. He can even wear his stupid cowboy hat. But after that, I am going to be on him like a mongoose on a cobra. He does not stand a chance. Interim champion is the perfect description of his so-called title reign.” (news release)
He’d earlier bragged about this being the “year of the bull,” but why not switch it up and send it the other way and then keep mocking the “interim” titlist designation?: “It’s the Year of the Ox, how appropriate that I’m fighting Jorge ‘Travieso’ Arce, who is as dumb as one. I’m going to blow him away like a Santa Ana wind. On February 7, I’m going to teach Arce just how interim his title really is. What’s black and blue and red all over? Jorge Arce by round three — assuming he lasts that long.” (news release)
Darchinyan really wants you to know that he thinks Arce has a low IQ: “He’s been hit in the head so much. He is not very smart for a boxer. He is dumb.” (news conference)
You can practically hear the Armenian accent: “Arce is a good puncher; he’s had good knockouts. But I am going to play him like baby.” (news conference)
A lot is going to happen afterward, first to Arce: “He’s just going for a big punch. He’s not a big puncher. I’m going to punish him. I want to thank his management because they don’t want him anymore. They just want to write him off after this loss.” (news conference)
Then to the entire division: “After this fight, I don’t think anyone (in the super flyweights) is going to fight me because they are going to see what I am going to do with Arce,” he said. “I’m not going to wait for them. I’m going to move up to bantamweight. If they can move up to bantamweight [118] and win any title, the door is open for them any time.” (The Age)
Since Arce is the one with a “big mouth,” I suppose I’ll throw Arce’s best attacks line in there, from a news conference: “He has said things I don’t appreciate and it makes me work a little harder, but when we get in the ring I am going to hurt him. I hope he stands there and fights for a while so I can really hurt him. I hope he doesn’t fall early because I want to give him a lot of punches. I know he can take a lot of punches, so I hope he is ready for them… I’ve been watching his videos. He’s just a one-handed fighter. All he has is the left hand. He’s fast and he’s strong, but once you take the left hand away he’s done. Nonito Donaire proved that. He can also be knocked out in one punch. But not me. I’m not moving up in weight. I’m moving down.”
And lastly, an exchange… Arce: “He thinks he is an intimidator. He always tells people what he will do and they get intimidated. But, I’m not that type of guy. His words won’t affect me. He can say and talk about what he is going to do to me in the ring, but I’m not going to fold. I’m a bigger guy than him. He won’t intimidate me.” Darchinyan, asked about Arce’s claim that he wouldn’t be intimidated: “I don’t care. I’m going to knock him out.” (news conference)
